Chapter Sixteen
Macgrath
“We’re coming toyou, Ewan.”
Callum’s words were barely audible over the buzzing in my ears. “What?”
“Marcus and I are on our way to you right now,” he enunciated slowly and clearly, as though he wanted to make sure I understood every syllable he uttered.
“No, you shouldn’t,” I argued. “Rhiannon—”
“Is an evil bitch who will probably try to kill us all. Yeah, we’re aware. But it will be easier for Marcus to track her if we’re—”
It was my turn to interrupt. “Fuck, no!” I yelled. I sucked in a sharp breath and released it on a huff, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. Shit. Everyone in the house probably heard that outburst, even the human.
I had to get control of myself. I was letting Rhiannon and all of this get to me. It was eating away at my control, inch by inch, until there would be nothing left of me but uncontrollable rage and hunger.
“Marcus can track her. You and I both know it.”
“But at what cost to him?” I asked, my voice cracking.
Marcus had the gift of precognition. When he was human, it was too weak for more than predicting weather patterns or where the enemy might turn up in battle. But when I turned him, the gift grew stronger until it held him in a stranglehold. During the last few centuries, he’d gained control.
Yet I couldn’t forget how it had been in the beginning, when the visions damn near drove him mad. If anything could push him closer to that edge, it would be his peek into Rhiannon’s mind. If I had known what the cost would be before turning him, I never would have done it.
“He knows what’s at stake and he’s willing to take the risk,” Callum added.
“But I’m not,” I whispered. “Rhiannon has taken enough from me. I can’t allow her to take either of you as well.”
Callum fell silent for a long moment. Then he drew in a deep breath and replied, “Ewan, we will be safe. Marcus and I are stronger now than we were a century ago. And even if we aren’t strong enough to defeat Rhiannon on our own, your group is powerful. You are powerful. Together, we will remain unharmed.”
I wanted to refuse, to tell him to stay the fuck away from Austin because we would all probably die, but I couldn’t find my voice. My throat was locked down tight.
“I’ve exhausted all my options here,” he continued. “I won’t be able to track her through her financials any more. Well, at least not in a short amount of time. I couldn’t locate the hacker. He’s too damn smart. He figured out how to cover her tracks and it would take weeks of digging and at least one powerful witch or warlock for me to find the information I need. This hacker isn’t just using his knowledge, but magic as well and it’s powerful and dark. It will take too much time. This is the only way.”
I gritted my teeth and felt my fangs descend. “I know,” I admitted. I hated those words. I despised that my weakness would now put Callum and Marcus in danger.
“We’ll be there tomorrow morning,” he stated.
“You’ll stay in the house I was using before. It’s warded and completely off the map.”
“Great,” Callum muttered. “That means we’ll be lucky if there’s running water.”
“It’s not that bad,” I replied. And it wasn’t. Though the house was somewhat rustic and off the grid, it still had a lot of amenities.
“Yeah, but you say that about sleeping on a cave floor,” he argued. “And the rest of us are trying to avoid permanent neck damage.”
I would have smiled at his grumbled complaint if a car hadn’t been slowing to a stop in front of Savannah’s house. My body tensed when I saw who sat behind the wheel.
I growled deep in my chest. “Look, something just came up and I need to deal with it. I’ll call you back in a bit with the address.”
“Rhiannon?” he asked quickly.
“No, a damn wolf.”
“Understood,” he replied before he disconnected the call.
I slid the cell phone into my back pocket and let my arms drop to my sides as Harrison Morris parked his car and climbed out.
